Data Types in C

A data type specifies the type of data that a variable can store such as integer, floating,
character, etc.

There are the following data types in C language.

Types Data Types

Basic Data Type int, char, float, double

Derived Data Type array, pointer, structure, union

Enumeration Data Type enum

Void Data Type void

Basic Data Types

The basic data types are integer-based and floating-point based. C language supports both
signed and unsigned literals.

The memory size of the basic data types may change according to 32 or 64-bit operating
system.

Let's see the basic data types. Its size is given according to 32-bit architecture.

Data Types Memory Size Range

char 1 byte −128 to 127

signed char 1 byte −128 to 127

unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 255

short 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed short 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short 2 byte 0 to 65,535

int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned int 2 byte 0 to 65,535

short int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed short int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short int 2 byte 0 to 65,535

long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

signed long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

unsigned long int 4 byte 0 to 4,294,967,295

 Keywords in C
A keyword is a reserved word. You cannot use it as a variable name, constant name,
etc. There are only 32 reserved words (keywords) in the C language.

A list of 32 keywords in the c language is given below:

Auto break case char const continue default do

double else enum extern float for goto if

Int long register return short signed sizeof static

Struct switch typedef union unsigned void volatile while

C Identifiers
C identifiers represent the name in the C program, for example, variables, functions,
arrays, structures, unions, labels, etc. An identifier can be composed of letters such as
uppercase, lowercase letters, underscore, digits, but the starting letter should be
either an alphabet or an underscore. If the identifier is not used in the external
linkage, then it is called as an internal identifier. If the identifier is used in the external
linkage, then it is called as an external identifier

Rules for constructing C identifiers

o The first character of an identifier should be either an alphabet or an
underscore, and then it can be followed by any of the character, digit, or
underscore.
o It should not begin with any numerical digit.
o In identifiers, both uppercase and lowercase letters are distinct. Therefore, we
can say that identifiers are case sensitive.
o Commas or blank spaces cannot be specified within an identifier.
o Keywords cannot be represented as an identifier.
o The length of the identifiers should not be more than 31 characters.
 o Identifiers should be written in such a way that it is meaningful, short, and
easy to read.

Example of valid identifiers

1. total, sum, average, _m _, sum_1, etc.

Example of invalid identifiers

1. 2sum (starts with a numerical digit)

2. int (reserved word)
3. char (reserved word)
4. m+n (special character, i.e., '+')

Differences between Keyword and Identifier

Keyword Identifier

Keyword is a pre-defined word. The identifier is a user-defined word

It must be written in a lowercase letter. It can be written in both lowercase and uppercase
letters.

Its meaning is pre-defined in the c compiler. Its meaning is not defined in the c compiler.

It is a combination of alphabetical It is a combination of alphanumeric characters.

characters.

It does not contain the underscore It can contain the underscore character.
character.

1. int main()
2. {
3. int a=10;
4. int A=20;
5. printf("Value of a is : %d",a);
6. printf("\nValue of A is :%d",A);
7. return 0;
8. }
Output

Value of a is : 10
Value of A is :20

C Operators

An operator is simply a symbol that is used to perform operations. There can be

many types of operations like arithmetic, logical, bitwise, etc.

There are following types of operators to perform different types of operations in C

language.

o Arithmetic Operators
o Relational Operators
o Shift Operators
o Logical Operators
o Bitwise Operators
o Ternary or Conditional Operators
o Assignment Operator
o Misc Operator

Arithmetic Operators
The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language.
Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

+ Adds two operands. A + B = 30

− Subtracts second operand from the first. A − B = -10

* Multiplies both operands. A * B = 200

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator. B/A=2

% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division. B%A=0

++ Increment operator increases the integer value by one. A++ = 11

-- Decrement operator decreases the integer value by one. A-- = 9

Relational Operators
The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

== Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then (A == B)
the condition becomes true. is not
true.

!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If the values (A != B)
are not equal, then the condition becomes true. is true.

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right (A > B)
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is not
true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right (A < B)
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the (A >= B)
value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is not
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value (A <= B)
of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is true.

Logical Operators
Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C language. Assume
variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, (A && B)
then the condition becomes true. is false.

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, (A || B) is

then the condition becomes true. true.
! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state !(A &&
of its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will B) is
make it false. true.

Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables for
&, |, and ^ is as follows −

p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume A = 60 and B = 13 in binary format, they will be as follows −

A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
-----------------
A&B = 0000 1100
A|B = 0011 1101
A^B = 0011 0001
~A = 1100 0011
The following table lists the bitwise operators supported by C. Assume variable 'A'
holds 60 and variable 'B' holds 13, then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

& Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both (A & B) =
operands. 12, i.e.,
0000
1100

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand. (A | B) =

61, i.e.,
0011
1101

^ Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not (A ^ B) =
both. 49, i.e.,
 0011
0001

~ (~A ) =
Binary One's Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of ~(60),
'flipping' bits. i.e,. -
0111101

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by A << 2 =
the number of bits specified by the right operand. 240 i.e.,
1111
0000

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right A >> 2 =
by the number of bits specified by the right operand. 15 i.e.,
0000
1111

Assignment Operators
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side C=A+B

operands to left side operand will assign
the value
of A + B
to C

+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right operand to the left C += A is
operand and assign the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C +
A

-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the right operand C -= A is

from the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C -
A

*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the right operand C *= A is

with the left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C *
A

/= Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left operand with C /= A is

the right operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C /
A
%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using two C %= A is
operands and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C
%A

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator. C <<= 2

is same
as C = C
<< 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator. C >>= 2

is same
as C = C
>> 2

&= Bitwise AND assignment operator. C &= 2 is

same as
C=C&2

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator. C ^= 2 is

same as
C=C^2

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator. C |= 2 is

same as
C=C|2

Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary

Besides the operators discussed above, there are a few other important operators
including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

sizeof() sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return

Returns the size of a variable.
4.

& &a; returns the actual address of the

Returns the address of a variable.
variable.

* Pointer to a variable. *a;

?: If Condition is true ? then value X :

Conditional Expression.
otherwise value Y
Operators Precedence in C
Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression and
decides how an expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence
than others; for example, the multiplication operator has a higher precedence than
the addition operator.
For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has a
higher precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.
Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those
with the lowest appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence
operators will be evaluated first.
Show Examples

Category Operator Associativity

Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right

Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left

Multiplicative */% Left to right

Additive +- Left to right

Shift << >> Left to right

Relational < <= > >= Left to right

Equality == != Left to right

Bitwise AND & Left to right

Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right

Bitwise OR | Left to right

Logical AND && Left to right

Logical OR || Left to right

Conditional ?: Right to left

Assignment = += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |= Right to left

Comma , Left to right